


You’re Where?

by Allwalkfree



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Family Drama, Family Fluff, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2019-11-18 00:25:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18109559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allwalkfree/pseuds/Allwalkfree
Summary: Five is mistaken for a kid, so Vanya needs to pick him up from school. When Klaus decides to tag along, things are bond to get out of hand





	1. Pick Me Up Now

When the phone rang downstairs, Vanya looked up from her book in surprise. No one had used that old thing in years.

Standing up, she put her book aside, and made her way over to the stairs. _‘Who could be calling so early in the morning?’_

Most of her siblings were out and about today, and Vanya was pretty sure she was the only remaining member of her family still in the house right now, along with Klaus.  Picking up the phone, after arriving at the kitchen she put it against her ear.

“Hello?”

“Vanya?” the relief in Five’s voice was evident.

“Five?” Vanya asked, pressing the phone more against her ear. “Where are you? Why are you calling home?”

“It’s a long story,” he said, sounding distracted.

If she listened closely, Vanya could hear children laughter in the background.  _‘Children?’_ she thought.  _‘What was Five doing near a park?’_

“Am at school,” he said.

 _‘Ok,’_  she thought. ‘ _Not a park then._ ’

“Why are you at school.” This whole conversation was getting bizarre. When Vanya picked up the phone a couple of minutes ago, this was not what she had expected.

“A teacher saw my uniform and decided that I was skipping classes.”  

He sounded sullen.  

“What?” Vanya pressed her fingers up against her lips, trying to prevent herself from laughing out loud.  _‘What a ridiculous situation Five had found himself in.’_

“You heard me,” he hissed.

“And you couldn’t talk your way out of it?” she asked, trying hard not to let her amusement show, but from the way Five scoffed scornfully, she hadn’t been all that successful.  

“I tried,” he said, moving temporarily to snap at someone behind him. “I told these nice ladies that I was being homeschooled by my sister, and I wore the school uniform because she tries to keep a sense of structure about my classes.”

“Smooth,” she said, lips forming into a tiny smile. “Nice improvisation.”

He only huffed at that. “Could you please pick me up?”

Vanya opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, a scuffle was heard from the background, before a breathless female voice came through the phone.

“Are you Ms. Vanya?” the woman asked.

“Yes?”

“My name is Ms. Annie Richland. Your brother tells us you homeschool him, is that correct?”

Vanya coughed slightly. “Yes, that’s correct.”

“Well then,” the lady said, her skepticism quite clear in her voice. “Why don’t you come pick him up, and we can talk about the possibility of him maybe starting classes here at our school. I am sure you will find some of our programs quite enticing.”

“Who talks like that,” Vanya muttered to herself.

“Pardon?”

“Oh, nothing,” she rushed out. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

The phone most have been snatched from Ms. Richland, because suddenly Five was on the other side, and the scandalized voice of the teacher was echoing in the background.

“Hurry up,” was all he said, before the phone clicked, and the beeping sound was all that was left behind from that weird conversation.

Vanya sighed. ‘ _I guess I have to pick him up now,’_  she thought.

“So,” came a voice from behind her. “When are we leaving?”

Jumping a foot in the air, the violinist spun around to meet her brothers giddy smile.

“Klaus,” she snapped, hand over her heart. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry, sorry,” he said waving his arms. “But can we go pick up the little tyke now?”

Vanya opened her mouth to tell him that he was in no uncertain terms coming with her, but he looked so excited and happy, and Klaus hadn’t been this happy ever since the anniversary of Dave’s death had passed.  

“Ok,” she said, knowing in her gut she was going to regret this decision for the rest of her life. “Get your coat and let’s go.


	2. We Can Do This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya is prepared to act her socks off. No way will Five be taken by the CPS under her watch

Standing in front of the door to the principal's office, Vanya took a deep breath and straightened her back. “We got this,” she muttered. 

“Sure we do.” 

Klaus was playing on his phone next to her, humming under his breath, and generally being as carefree as ever. 

“Klaus,” she hissed, turning around to face him. “We need to get this right, or they might call child protective services on us.” 

Klaus grinned. “Imagine Five being taken away by CPS kicking and screaming.” 

Vanya’s lips twitched. “Murdering and cursing you mean.” 

Klaus snorted. “True.” 

She shook her head. “We need a game plan before we go in there.” 

“We already have a game plan.” With that Klaus reached out his hand to knock on the door. 

Vanya slapped it away harshly.  

“Ow, what was that for,” her brother mumbled, holding his wrist with a wounded look on his face. 

“I said we need a game plan,” Vanya sighed, rubbing her forehead in exasperation. “And your plan sucks, so hear me out.” 

“Fine.”  

He didn’t sound very happy. 

 _‘Well, tough,’_ Vanya thought with just the tiniest bit of annoyance. She loved her brother dearly and lately they all had been treating him with kid gloves, but this was a serious matter, so he either got with the program or she would send him back home. 

Her glare most have conveyed all that, for Klaus shoulder’s slumped, and he gave her one of his mischievous yet defeated smile. 

“Ok, ok,” he said, with a bit more conviction this time. “Your way it is.” 

Vanya nodded back at him, her eyes softening slightly.  

“Ok,” she said, dragging her taller brother down to her level. “We need to get in and out of there. The less questions they ask, the better.” 

“That’s simple enough,” Klaus said, the disappointment in his voice obvious. “Can’t we at least pretend to be two disowned children from rival noble families, that eloped together for their love was bigger than any feud?” 

“That’s Romeo and Juliet.” 

“Is it?” Klaus put a finger against his chin as if in thought. “Oh, I guess it is!”  

Vanya sighed again. “Klaus, please focus.” 

“Fiiiine,” he said, rolling his eyes, and dragging out the word. “Be that way.” 

Staring her brother down for a second longer, the violinist carried on as if the taller man had never even spoken. 

“Five is homeschooled,” she whispered, trying to be careful not to let her voice carry across the door and to the occupants on the other side.  

“I homeschool him, and you are my boyfriend, that occasionally helps him with his homework. You’ll be another voice, an unrelated voice to stand testament to the fact that Five is a well behaved, well-educated boy, that doesn’t need to go to a public school. We’re in and out in less than five minutes hopefully.” Grabbing Klaus’s elbow, she shook him slightly. “Understood?” 

He had started to grin when he heard the plan, clearly being allowed to act as the boyfriend in this scenario was making him giddy. “Understood,” he said with a little too much enthusiasm. 

 _‘Please let this not get out of hand,’_  Vanya prayed, before raising her fist, and gently knocking on the thick bronze colored door. 

She felt like she was forgetting something crucial, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what it was.  _'Oh well,'_ she thought. ' _One thing at a time.'_

“Come in,” a voice rang from the other side. 

Twisting the door knob gently, Vanya let the door glide open with a little push.  

“Hello,” she called out, stepping into what she presumed was the secretary's office.  

“Who are you?,” the old lady said, not even looking up from her typing.  

“Vanya,” Vanya muttered, clutching her fingers around her jacket sleeves. “Vanya Hargreeves. Me and my boyfriend are here to pick up my brother?” 

The old woman had yet to send even a glance in their direction. “The principle is expecting you,” she said instead, nodding her head at the door behind her. “Go on in.” 

“Thanks!” Klaus said, skipping past the desk, and promptly knocking on the door separating them from Five. 

Vanya hurried to catch up with him. 

“It’s open,” she heard faintly, as she approached her brother, just in time to see him throw open the door with all the dramatics one man could exude.  

Vanya barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. 

Walking into the office, she fixed her gaze on the oldish lady sitting behind the desk.  

The woman was smiling at them in a welcoming way, but all Vanya could do was blink at her. 

‘ _What a hideous make up,_ ’ was the first thought to pass through her head. 

Vanya would be the first to admit that make up and all that other girly stuff wasn’t in her taste, and she didn’t like to judge others on what they chose to do or not to do with their appearance, but this was next level. 

The old woman had glittering green eye shadows on, purple lipstick stretched thickly across her lips, and cheeks so rose tinted, Vanya could probably replicate the effect if she slapped herself in the face repeatedly. 

Klaus snorted next to her. 

Vanya stepped on his foot. 

“Hello Ms. Vanya,” said the woman standing next to principle.  

Her voice sounded familiar.  

“Oh, Hello Ms. Richland,” Vanya greeted back, slightly stumbling over her words. 

The woman was beautiful. Long reddish hair, slim frame, and make up done to perfection. 

 _‘Maybe she can give the principle a couple of tips,'_   Vanya thought. _‘There got to be something that lady can do to help the poor old woman out.’_  She was interrupted from her musing, by a sharp, familiar tone yet again. 

“Vanya. Finally you’re here. Took you long enough” 

Her eyes snapped to Five. Her brother, who was sitting on one of the armchairs facing the principle, looking bored and murderous all at the same time. 

 _‘Ok Vanya,’_ she thought. _‘Here we go.’_  

“Fievel!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad you’re ok kiddo!” 


	3. I Can't Believe This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get out of hand

The look on Five’s face was priceless. If Vanya  hadn’t been  trying to keep up an act, she might have burst  out laughing  right then and there.  

His eyebrows were so far up his forehead, Vanya was afraid they might disappear behind his hairline, never to be seen again.  

She could sense Klaus struggling to compose himself right next to her. _‘I should have told him about the name,’_ she thought. ‘ _Too late for that now.’_

“Vanya,” Five said, standing up, hands in his pockets. “Can we go now.”  

His lips were set in a thin line, his brows had finally come down to their proper position, and he looked only a second away from losing it.  

_‘I guess he has out-stretched his human interaction capacity for the day.’_

Vanya smiled at him. Lips pulling into the largest, most fakest smile she could muster.  

Rushing over to him, she put both hands on his shoulders and pulled him against her. Five’s shoulders slightly relaxed under her touch, and Vanya’s heart lurched at that little act of trust.  

“Thank you for taking care of him while he was here,” she said, squeezing her brother close, and flashing another smile at the strangers in the room. “We need to head back home now, but it was a pleasure to meet you!”  

With that she put her arm around Five, and quickly stirred him towards the door.  

“Wait,” Ms. Richland called out. “Hold on a second. The principle would like to talk to you for a minute if you don’t mind.”  

Vanya turned around slowly. “Oh,” she said. “I would love to, but we really need to go. I have work to attend to, and Fievel here needs to get back to his studies.”  

Ms. Richland’s face tensed, and the principle frowned.  

 _‘Damn it,’_   Vanya thought.  

“On that note,” the principle said.  

Vanya really should know her name by now.  

“Why was young Fievel walking around the city when he was supposed to be studying at home like you said?”  

Klaus snorted from behind her. “Young Fievel,” he muttered to himself.  

Shrugging, Vanya pushed Five closer to the door. “I gave him a break for a while, and I guess he went outside thinking he would be back before I noticed.” Smiling sheepishly, she tilted her head to the side. “Kids you know.”  

The principle nodded in understanding. Ms. Richland however, stepped forward slightly, and crossed her arms. “Maybe if he went to a normal school,” she said, tone light, but body language anything but. “You wouldn’t have to worry about keeping track of his teenage behaviors all the time?”  

Five tensed under Vanya’s hold. “I do not suffer from a teenager’s lack of proper thinking ma’am,” he snapped. “I advise you to think before saying anything as stupid as that again .”  

If she could get away with it, Vanya would have face palmed right then and there. She shouldn’t have been so surprised though,  Five had been too compliant for too long today. He was bound to snap eventually.  

Ms. Richland pursed her lips.  

“Can you just let us leave already,” Klaus finally exclaimed next to her. Leaning over slightly, and draping himself around their shorter brother. Five tensed, and Vanya barely stopped herself again from rolling her eyes.  

“And who are you?” the principle asked, looking at him with suspicion.  

 _‘Ah,’_ Vanya thought. _'That’s what I Forgot.’_

For Klaus was currently wearing a pink sparkly top, high heel boots, some really nonpublic friendly pants, and of course his trusted furry coat.  

She had gotten so used to how he dressed, that she hadn’t even addressed it, or noticed it when they were going on their little rescue mission.  

“Nicolas,” her brother said, with a shit eating grin. “My name is Nicolas Dickworth .”  

Vanya bit her lip hard to try and stop herself from laughing.  

The principle paused. “Dickworth?”  

Klaus shook his head. “Oh, no no ,” he said, hands brushing through Five’s hair gently. He was taking full advantage of Five’s inability to currently kill him. “ Dickworthie,” he said slowly. “It’s a family name.  

“Oh,” the principle said, coughing lightly. “Well in that case, it is very nice to meet you Mr. Dickworthie.”  

Vanya couldn’t believe this mess was  actually happening.  

“Mr. Nicolas,” Ms. Richland said, still looking at all of them with the same suspicion as when they first walked  in. “What is your relationship with young Fievel ?”  

She was staring at the way Klaus was currently hanging all over the younger boy.  

 _‘Well,’_ Vanya thought. _'That’s gonna be interesting.’_

“I’m Vanya’s boyfriend,” Klaus exclaimed. Turning around to make googly eyes at her.  

Vanya sighed. She had been doing that a lot of lately.  

“Is that so?”  

Looking the taller woman in the eyes, the violinist nodded. “Yes. We’ve been together for over a year now.”  

The principle coughed awkwardly; eyes fixed on Klaus’s manhandling of their brother.  

“Are you very close with Fievel, Mr. Dickworthie?”  

Looking up from planting a kiss on Five’s murderous head, Klaus blinked at the principle. “Very, very close,” he said finally.  

Ms. Richland paled.  

Vanya’s eyes narrowed. “What are you implying?” she said slowly.  

The principle shook her head, thick lipstick lips pulling into a frown. “Nothing Ms. Vanya,” she said, fixing her eyes back on her. “Excuse me, I didn’t really catch your last name dear.”  

Vanya paused. The Hargreeves  name was famous. She had accidentally given it out to the secretary before. What to do?  

“It’s Hargrain,” she said finally.  _‘Close enough to be chalked up to a mishearing if questioned,’_ she hoped.  

“Right,” the old lady continued. “Do you often let your boyfriend hang around your brother unsupervised?”  

“What?”  

“You heard me.” The principle was glaring at her now. “Do you leave your boyfriend alone with your brother? Maybe that’s why he ran away?’  

Vanya couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How the hell did things get out of control so fast? How the hell did these two women come to a farfetched conclusion like this? And what kind of irresponsible woman did they think she was?  

Vnaya could feel her temper rising, her blood boiling, and all she could see was red. Eyebrows furring on top of her forehead, and eyes blazing with flames, Vanya spat out. “How dare you! How dare you imply that my boyfriend, a man I have known for almost all of my life, cannot be trusted with my baby brother!” Each word was punctuated with a finger jabbing in the direction of the two offenders.  

“What kind of judgmental, hateful, ignorant people are you! Just because he dresses a certain way. I’ll have you know my brother sees Nicolas as family!”  

At this point Five who had finally managed to wiggle himself free of his brother’s hold, and Klaus were both standing there, staring openly at the confrontation going on.  

Five had taken a step back into Klaus’s side the minute the accusations started flying, leaning against his brother slightly, in what was likely his own way of showing support.  

Ms. Richland moved her hands quickly in a placating manner.  

“Principle Harriet didn’t mean that,” she said gently, both hands raised, face drawn in a sympathetic smile.  

Vanya wasn’t buying it.  

“It’s exactly what she meant,” she snapped, turning away from these two abhorrent ladies, and putting an arm each on both of her brothers backs. “We’re leaving.”  

But before they could take so much as a step forward, Principle Harriet spoke up again. She sounded gentle, but the tone of her voice didn’t leave any room for discussion.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that Ms. Vanya Hargrains,” she said. “I have seen a couple of very concerning things here today, and if we don’t talk and resolve this before we all choose to go our separate ways, I would have no choice but to take the appropriate actions to ensure your brother’s safety.”  

Vanya turned back around. Frame stiff, and cheeks red with barely held back anger. “Are you threatening me?” she hissed.  

The principle shook her head. “No Ms. Hargrains. Just a fair warning, that's all.”  

Five scoffed. “Sounds like a threat to me.”  

Ms. Richland frowned.  _‘She has been doing a lot of that,’_  Vanya observed.  

“Why don’t we show you around our facilities, and we can decide from there?” She said in a bright, almost friendly tone. It didn’t come out right.  

Vanya opened her mouth to reject it. No way, would she let these low paid, nosy, terrible people threaten her into doing what she didn’t want to do, but Klaus being Klaus had other things planned.  

Smiling, he wrapped his fingers around Vanya’s hand, and pulled her back.  

“That would be lovely,” he grinned. “Lead the way Madam.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this didn't come out as well as I hoped, so sorry in advance. The characters just refused to listen to what I wanted to say, and after a long fought battle, I'm afraid to say that I had to yield. Still, I hope you all enjoy at least some parts of it.
> 
> Cheers.


	4. I Wish I Could Hear You Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are never getting out of this school

“Well then,” Ms. Richland said, walking up next to Vanya. “Shall we go?”

Vanya gave a tight nod, before they all turned around towards the direction of the door.

“Wait!”

Principle Harriet had apparently raised a hand to stop them when Vanya looked over at her. The old woman was turning on the intercom and smiling reassuringly at them, or specifically Vanya.

“What is it?” Ms. Richland asked, clearly not aware of what the principle was up to this time.

Mrs. Harriet adjusted her glasses and met Vanya’s eyes. “Our student council president, Fredrick is just finishing up his classes,” she said. “Why don't he give your brother a tour around the facilities, and Ms. Richland here will in the meantime show you and your boyfriend around. Answering any of the questions you may have concerning our school?”

Vanya glared. _‘She had concerns alright, but nothing this lady could fix without letting them leave this instant.’_

Reaching out both of her arms, Vanya took hold of Five, and dragged him back into her side. “Absolutely not,” she said firmly.

Ms. Richland stepped forward then, smiling at her while trying to look nice. “I am sure Fievel would rather hang out with people his own age instead of walking around with us oldies,” she chuckled.

 _‘You have no idea,’_ Vanya thought.

Instead she said. “He is staying with me.” Her voice didn’t leave any room for arguments.

The principle frowned.

“Do you always keep your brother on such a tight leach?”

“Seriously?”

Klaus who had surprisingly stayed quite this whole time finally spoke up. His tone was friendly as always, but there was a certain edge to it this time.

“I’m just asking a question Mr. Dickworthie,” the principle said, lips pursed and eyes looking at Klaus with utter disapproval.

“First, she is letting little Fievel run around all by himself unsupervised being totally irresponsible in your humble opinion, and now she ties the poor bastard down to her, and refuses to let him go?” He raised an eyebrow at the old woman. “Am I getting this right?”

Harriet looked insulted to the high heavens for a second. “How dare you, young man,” she said, putting both of her wrinkled hands on her desktop. “I was asking your significant other, a simple question. Do not put words into my mouth.”

Klaus shrugged. “That sounds like a _you_ problem to me.”

Vanya snorted. She couldn’t really help herself at this point. This woman was being utterly ridiculous.

Ms. Richland stepped in quickly, trying to prevent things from escalating into an outright spat. “Why don’t we just ask what Fievel wants,” she said, turning her head this way and that to smile at everyone equally.

 _‘Her face is going to get stuck like that if she isn’t careful,’_ Vanya mused.

“I want to stay with my sister if you don’t mind principle,” Five said, after things calmed down a bit

“Very well,” Harriet nodded, leaning back in her chair, face crunching up like she had just been force fed a bag of lemons.

Vanya grinned. _‘2-1 for the Hargreeves family,’_ she thought feeling vindicated.

And with that, all four rational people were out the door, past the secretary office, and into the real world that was middle school.

“So,” Ms. Richland said, after she had rambled on for a couple of minutes. She was walking ahead of them currently, but frequently looking back to check on them.

 _‘Probably making sure we don’t make a run for it while her head is turned,’_ Vanya thought amused.

“Where do you want to go first?”

Klaus shrugged next to Vanya. “We don’t know, he said. “Aren’t you the expert here? I mean if you can’t lead us, we might as well stumble around on our own,” he grinned. “No offense.”

Ms. Richland frowned. “Non-taken.”

Klaus just widened his smile at her, sticking a red lollipop he just opened into his mouth.

“Where did you get that?” Ms. Richland asked.

“Oh this old thing?” Klaus said, bringing it out of his mouth, and waving it at her.

She grimaced, and Vanya found herself echoing the action.

“Yes,” she sanswered.

“I swiped it of the principle’s stash of candies while y’all were chit-chatting,” he said.

Bringing a green one out of his left pocked, he offered it to Five. “Want one kiddo?”

Five’s glare could melt ice, but to Vanya’s surprise he snatched it out of Klaus’s hand, unwrapped it, and stuffed it into his mouth.

Vanya smiled softly. _‘Still a sweet tooth,’_ she thought.

Ms. Richland on the other hand, just shook her head with a sigh. “Forget I asked,” she said, turning a corner quickly.

“Here we are!” she added, voice a little happier.” As she came to as stop in front of a huge double door. 

“We are where?” Klaus mumbled, sucking on his lollipop loudly.

“The Music room,” Ms. Richland said, excitedly. “Kids love it here.”

“Well, this kid doesn’t,” Klaus said, smirking at the woman. “Next please.”

Vanya however, had tuned out the whole conversation the minute they arrived at this location. Moving forward silently, she pushed open the double doors, and walked in with hesitant steps.

The talking behind her quieted down, while the noise that greeted her increased in volume,

When her eyes finally adjusted to the bright lit room, she made out the shapes of dozens of instruments. Most of them were in the hands of teenagers, trying to make coherent music out of their joined effort. They were failing miserably, but to Vanya, it sounded like home.

Someone suddenly spoke softly over her shoulder, and Vanya almost jumped a foot in the air. “There is currently a class going on,” Ms. Richland said next to her. “Why don’t we come back later, if you think Fievel might be interested in music?”

“It’s not about Fievel,” Klaus said, also making his way into the room, and casing the space with interested eyes. “Our Vanya here is a musician you see.”

Ms. Richland’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Five nodded, also making his way into the music room. “One of the best,” he muttered.

Vanya’s cheeks flared red, and she found that her lips were dangerously turning at the corners into what could be the goofiest of smiles. Five used to compliment her all the time when they were kids. Nothing specific or overly excited, but just an of hand compliment here and there, that always made her day

She tampered down the grin the best way she could, before looking over at Ms. Richland sheepishly.

“It’s nothing special,” she said, feeling embarrassed. “I just love music.”

“What instrument do you play?” Ms. Richland asked, curiosity filling her eyes.

“A couple.”

Vanya wanted so badly to outwardly say the violin, but admitting to that, would connect them even further to the Hargreeves name, and she couldn’t afford for that to happen, and besides, she wasn’t half bad on the piano either

Her heart tugged at that. Her and Ben used to play it together all the time. Swallowing thickly, she smiled softly at the teacher. “We should probably get going now.”

Ms. Richland shook her head frantically, grabbing Vanya’s wrist before the shorter woman could walk out the door.  “Why don’t you play us a song?” she asked, voice sounding excited. “I’m sure the children would love it.”

Vanya opened her mouth to say no, but before she could, yet again doing what he did best, Klaus interrupted. “My girlfriend would love to,” he said brightly.

“What instrument can you play for us?” Ms. Richland asked, ignoring Vanya’s heated glare at her so-called boyfriend.

Sighing in defeat, after even Five refused to not look interested in this suggestion, Vanya ran her fingers through her hair. “The piano I guess,” she said.

Klaus’s eyes flicked briefly to the side, before he grinned at Vanya. “I think we would all love to hear that,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The piano idea came out of left field. I didn't plan for it at all, until I had this dream were Vanya is playing the violin, and the ghost of Ben is sitting next to her like he used while he was alive. I have this headcanon that Vanya grows sick and tired of playing the violin for sometime, so she decides to learn the piano instead, and Ben would come and sit down next to her, and they would learn together. So yeah
> 
> Sorry that this is less about the whole school thing and more about Vanya, I just could not skip it.


	5. Your Ghost Has Never Left Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben was there. Ben was always there. They just never knew

Ms. Richland quickly made her way over to the music teacher to talk her into whatever she was planning to talk her into, and in the meantime, Vanya was freaking out.

“We can just leave now,” she whispered from the corner of her mouth. “I bet she wouldn’t even notice.”

“Non-of that dear Vanya,” Klaus said, waving her away. “We came here to have fun, and it’s exactly what we’ll do.”

Vanya stared at him. “We came here to get Five,” she said.

“Oh, that too.”

“Unbelievable,” Vanya shook her head.

“Don’t you want to do it?” Five asked then, looking up at her with a curious frown. “I thought you liked playing in front of a crowd?”

“I do,” she said, running a hand through her hair again in frustration. “It’s just so unexpected, and I don’t do well with the unexpected you know.”

Klaus pursed his lips. “We could go if you really want to,” he said. “But Ben is really excited about this and I think he would feel let down if you didn’t go through with this.”

Vanya’s eyes widened in shock, then she downcast them to the ground. “Ben wants me to play?”

“Ouch!” was Klaus’s answer to that, and when Vanya looked up, she saw both of her brothers glaring at each other.

 _‘Five most have hit him,’_ she thought, smiling slightly.

“Stop guilt tripping her,” he snapped.

Rubbing his arm with a hurt look on his face, Klaus stuck out his tongue childishly. “You and Ben sound creepily alike,” he muttered.

“That’s cuz Ben actually has a voice of reason,” Five retorted.

“Guys stop it,” Vanya said. “We don’t need this right now.”

But before she could continue, Ms. Richland came jogging back.

“The class is almost over,” she said. “Mrs. Henderson will let you play ten minutes before the class comes to an end.” Twitching her lip slightly, she patted Vanya lightly on the shoulder. “No kids want to stay longer than needed right?”

Five snorted.

Smiling back, Vanya shook her head. “I guess not.”

The time flew by faster than Vanya would have liked, and before she knew it, she was walking over to the piano and sitting down.

Briefly looking up at the kids sitting up there, she quickly looked away.

 _‘Don’t psych yourself out Vanya,’_ she told herself. _‘Don’t psych yourself out. You have performed in front of people much more important than these kids.’_

She knew what she was going to play long before she walked over, and as her fingers placed themselves gently on the keys, the echo of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9. Ode to joy filled her mind. Ben’s favorite. Her favorite because it was Ben’s favorite, and the music that filled the empty corners of their home, when all that surrounded them was darkness and loneliness.

Vanya closed her eyes and moved.

Her fingers flew over the keys, her soul embraced the tale being told through this music, and her mind flashed back to a time colored with more innocence, with more heart, with more happiness than she had ever experienced since.

As Vanya played the music from her heart, her very essence lifted itself from her shoulders, and sprang into every corner of the room.

Maybe it was her powers, maybe it was just her, but Vanya hadn’t felt this much life in her since she stopped taking those cursed pills.

Trailing her fingers across the keys, she fell into another world. A world of less hurt, of less suffering, of warm embraces, and soft smiles. A happier world. A joyous one.

She wondered if Ben was sitting next to her.

Ghostly fingers moving alongside her own, laughing gently when he made a mistake, and bumping his shoulder into hers when she got something right.

She wondered if Ben was proud of her.

“I miss you,” she muttered softly. Voice drowned out by the music, but still speaking them into existence as they were words she had always wished to say out loud, without a fear of being heard and punished by their father.

And if Vanya had been able to glimpse behind the vail for just a fleeting second. For just a moment. She would have seen Ben. Sitting there right beside her. Fingers dancing over the keys, mouth humming to the tune, and eyes shinning with the life he had lost so many years ago. If she could be Klaus for only a single moment, Vanya would have realized, that Ben had never let her play the piano alone even from the afterlife, but she couldn’t and so she never knew.

The music finally came to a still, as Vanya fingers stopped moving, and her eyes slowly cracked open.

Breathing deeply, she allowed her shoulders to relax, quickly moving her shaking hand up, to wipe at her eyes.

Then she heard the clapping. Music students were standing up clapping for her. Loud whooping and cheers ringing out. Vanya smile.

And as she looked back at her own little family standing at the side with Ms. Richland, she couldn’t help but let her smile form into a full-blown grin.

Five was clapping slowly alongside everyone else, a proud smile curving at his lips. Klaus was giving her two thumps up, and Ms. Richland was subtly trying to wipe her own teary eyes.

“That was beautiful,” the music teacher said, coming over to Vanya, and gripping both of her hands in her own. “Utterly beautiful. What a little magician you are young lady.”

Vanya looked down in embarrassment, cheeks flushing red.

“Thank you,” she said.

Suddenly a shrieking noise filled the air. Loud and almost deafening in its volume.

The music teacher was startled by it, quickly letting go of Vanya’s hands. “That’s the fire alarm,” she said, looking up at the ceiling. “Something most have happened.”

“Everyone,” Ms. Richland was heard calling from the back. “Form a single line please.”

 _‘Well,’_ Vanya thought. ‘ _That was some short-lived fame.’_

Smiling to herself slightly, she turned around to try and locate her idiot siblings.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don't really know much about music, so I really hope the feeling and the emotions Vanya was experiencing actually make sense, and it doesn't sound too tacky. I would also liek to thank deadmarch20 for giving me that lovely suggestion. I listened to the music yesterday, and I found it really beautiful, and I hope I was able to convey that feeling well.
> 
> Lastly, sorry for the chapter being so short, I have classes early in the morning, so this one was a bit rushed, and I promise there will be a bit more tomorrow. And the focus won't be so central to Vanya anymore. I just really needed to write these two chapters. Things will get much more lighthearted from here. Promise. Well, enjoy I guess :)


	6. Can We Please Get Something Right?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus has a terrible plan. Vanya just wants to die

Vanya couldn’t find either of her siblings.

“What the,” she muttered, before stepping out of the music room, and letting her eyes wander the halls.

“Guys,” she called out uncertain. “Where are you?”

Someone had pulled the fire alarm, and they all needed to get out of here. “Guys!” she called out again, both hands cupping his mouth. “We need to go.”

Walking down the slowly crowding halls, she looked this way and that. _‘Where the hell are they?’_ she wondered.

“Pssst Vanya.”

She came to an abrupt stop. “Klaus?”

“Yes, over here!”

Turning her whole body around fully, Vanya spotted a not so inconspicuous hand waving at her frantically from a door.

Moving slowly in the direction of the slightly ajar door, Vanya couldn’t help her irritation from growing.

_‘Why couldn’t her brothers just behave for once in their lives?’_

Arriving at the door, she opened her mouth to speak, but before anything of notice left her lips, a hand sprang out of the gap, grabbed her, and dragged her head first into the classroom

Stumbling slightly, she was righted quickly by two small hands on her shoulders. “Five?” she mumbled, squinting at him in the dark.

“Hello Vanya.”

She tried to glare at both their figures arms crossed, after making sure she wasn't about to fall over. “What the hell is going on here?”

“Shhhh,” Klaus hissed, bringing a finger up to her lips. Vanya batted it away.

“Ow,” he mumbled.

“Vanya,” Five said, voice much more calm. “You need to get down so no one outside spots you.”

She frowned at him but did as she was told. “And why exactly don’t we wanna be spotted?”

“Cuz we need to escape this hell hole,” Klaus said brightly.

“But the fire alarm,” she said, confusion seeping into her words.

Klaus grinned.

Vanya’s brain halted for only a second to process this. Pursing her lips, and narrowing her eyes, she brought up a single finger to jab at her brother’s chest, hard. “You did this?”

The screeching sound of the alarm was still on going, and Vanya could barely make herself heard over the noise.

Nodding with satisfaction, Klaus answered in the affirmative. “Sure did,” he mumbled around the almost done lollipop in his mouth.

“Why?” Vanya asked. Her anger and irritation at the whole situation reaching a boiling point.

Klaus shrugged. “I told you. So we can get out.”

Vanya took a deep breath. “And you didn’t think of just walking out with everyone after you pulled the alarm, and disappearing from the scene in the chaos?”

Her brother stayed quite for a while. “That’s,” he finally said. “I actually didn’t think about that.” Smiling sheepishly while bringing another lollipop out of his pocket, he patted her on the shoulder twice. “Nice thinking Vanya, wish I had thought of that.”

“Idiot,” Five mumbled.

Vanya redirected her glare at him. “Don’t act like you didn’t go along with his idiotic plan either. As fare as I’m concerned,” she said, snatching the blue candy out of Klaus’s hand. “You're both idiots.”

“Don’t give me that look,” she said to Klaus, as she unwrapped the candy. “You already had yours.”

Even his pouting wouldn’t save Klaus from this one. as she stuffed the candy into her mouth. _‘He is more trouble than his worth sometimes,’_ Vanya sighed to herself.

“Now what,” the shortest one of them asked, looking out from the tiny gap between the door.

“Now,” Vanya said, licking the candy in thought. “Now we go out there, pretend we just got lost, and then seriously get lost back home while everyone else is busy with the kids.”

Five nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

But before any of them could so much as move into action, a familiar voice rang out, dangerously close to their hiding spot.

“Fievel” Ms. Richland called. “Sweetie are you out there? Ms. Vanya! Mr. Nicolas! We need to go.”

“Shit,” Klaus said, clapping both hands on his cheeks. “What are we gonna do.”

“Go,” Five said, crawling past them both. “There is a door at the back, get moving.”

They stayed low as they quickly made their away across the pitch black room.

When her head hit a table, Vanya hissed softly and cursed at herself and everything around here. _‘Never again,’_ she thought. _‘If any of my siblings ever called for help again, well Vanya wouldn’t be home.’_

Arriving at the opposing door, Five reached out his hand, and gently twisted the doorknob.

“Stage one complete,” Klaus said, as they stood on the other side of the now closed door.

The hall way was almost empty, and it looked like most people had already found their way out of the school.

“Come on guys,” Vanya muttered. “Let’s follow these people to the outside world.”

Five and her started moving, but by their fourth step, they both noticed that Klaus had decided to stay rooted at his spot. “Klaus,” Vanya barked, sick and tired of this whole day. “Stop being you, and let’s go.”

“Sorry V,” her brother said, moving this way and that awkwardly. “But this grown man needs to use the bathroom.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I’m very serious.”

Vanya let her palm drag across her face in exasperation. “Can’t you hold it in?”

Klaus shook his head. “Nop, not really. Unless you want a mess all over these beautifully clean halls. I don’t think the janitors would appreciate that much.”

Shoulders slumping in frustration, Vanya bowed her head in defeat. “Fine, let’s find a bathroom quick.”

And so, they were off again. Lightly jogging across the halls, keeping an eye out for bathrooms.

“Mr. Dickworthie! Ms. Hargrains!”

 _‘Oh shit,’_ Vanya thought, coming to a screeching halt. _‘That was the principle.’_

Turning her head around to see the principle waving at them frantically from the other side of the bridge splitting the two halves of the school, Vanya waved back just as frantically.

“Get out!” Vanya screamed at the top of her lungs. “There is a fire!”

Then she grabbed both of her siblings by the hands and started running again. Hopefully the principle would believe they were just lost and only trying to get out of the building too.

Finally, after wandering around for only a couple of minutes that honestly felt like hours, the three Hargreeves siblings made it to the bathroom.

“Make it quick,” Vanya huffed, hands on her knees.

“Roger that captain,” Klaus said, pushing the door open.

“Who’re you people?” was what greeted them from behind the door. As this little kid stepped out of the bathroom and blinked up at Klaus.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said. “There might be a fire.”

Klaus grinned down at him. “Is that so? Then why are you here pray tell?”

“I needed to use the bathroom.”

“Oh, what a coincidence,” Klaus said, clapping his hands in glee. “So did I.”

The kid frowned. “I am going downstairs now though,” he said.

“Good for you.”

“You shouldn’t be here Mr.” he continued, arms now crossed.

“For God sake,” Five hissed moving up next to Klaus, and grabbing the kid by the collar of his uniform. “Fuck of brat, before I do something I won’t regret.”

The kid’s eyes watered.

“Five,” Vanya gasped.

“You’re mean,” the tiny elementary school kid sniffed, and with and extra push from Five, he made a run for it.

“Oh well,” Klaus said. “Not that that is taken care of,” and with that he made his way into the bathroom.

“Hurry up,” Vanya called after him, while still glaring at her favorite brother.

“What?” he asked.

“You shouldn’t have scared him like that.”

“He shouldn’t have been so annoying.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the late update. Classes have been such a bitch, and with the finals coming up soon, I just haven't had time to sit down and map these chapters out. But here is the next one, and the overall plot is slowly starting to make sense in my head. I don't think any of you will expect what's gonna come next. Enjoy
> 
> Oh and props to Bionic_Egypt for guessing where the plot was going last chapter. Nice one :)


	7. We're In This Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some revelations are made

When their bathroom escapade was done and over with; Klaus finally walking out of the bathroom with a lazy smile and a tiny skip in his steps, Vanya honestly thought for a second that her troubles were over.

Sadly, she turned out to be mistaken, as things quickly went from bad to worse.

This time Five was the one who decided to flip the script on her. “We can’t leave yet,” he said, just as they were getting ready to abandon this cursed building.

Vanya swivelled her head around, glared for the upteen time that day and hissed. Just hissed loudly and furiously, nothing else. She hoped this put her point across far more clearly than any of her spoken words had done so far.

Five looked at her in apology. “Sorry Vanya,” he said. “But we can’t leave till we have seen the lab.”

“Why?” Klaus asked, curiosity peaked.

“Yes, Why?” Vanya added, throwing her hands in the air out of sheer frustration. “Why the hell do we have to go to the freaking lab Five? Why?” Honestly at this point Vanya couldn’t be blamed if she sat herself down in a corner and wept in despair.

Five crossed his arms and looked away. “There are certain chemicals there that we need to get our hands on.”

“No,” Vanya said, waving her finger in his face. “No, we do not. No one hear need some chemicals ok?”

Five sighed, before rolling his eyes.

 _‘He just rolled his eyes at me,’_ Vanya though in disbelief. _‘He fucking rolled his eyes at me.’_

Her blood started to boil.

 _‘Enough was enough. They needed to get out of here, they needed to get home, and Vanya needed to sit down in her room for at least a couple of hours and play her violin uninterrupted.’_ Five most have noticed the quick change in temperament, because he hurried up to explain himself. “Look,” he said. “Diego and I are working on this case, and he said he needs these chemicals if we ever hope to make any headway in finding the criminal.”

“Wait a minute,” Klaus said, leaning forward. “Are you telling me that you and Diego are buddying it up, and I wasn’t invited?”

“No,” Five snapped. “This has nothing to do with you, and Diego and I are not buddying anything up.”

“Enough,” Vanya said. “Stop.”

A throbbing pain had slowly started to bloom between her eyes all morning, and it had now developed into a full-blown headache. Her vision was swimming, her head felt like it was splitting in half, and that annoying alarm had yet to be turned off.

“Look,” She mumbled, biting her lips and wiping at the corner of her eyes. “We need to get home before everyone else come back inside ok? I’m sorry Five, but we can’t go to the lab.”

“I’m sorry too Vanya,” Five said, and to his credit he truly did look apologetic. “But I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” she asked, voice dripping with exhaustion. “Diego can get whatever he needs somewhere else, so why the hell not?”

“People’s lives are at stake,” Five answered. “And Diego can’t find it anywhere else. At least nowhere that is less secure than this, we checked.”

“Make sense,” Klaus shrugged, but Vanya’s whole world just came to an abrupt stop the minute those last words left Five’s lips.

 _‘We checked,’_ kept ringing in her head over and over again. _‘He said we checked,’_ she thought. _‘We.checked.’_

“What do you mean that you checked?” she finally forced out.

Five winced. “That came out wrong,” he said.

“No,” Vanya raised her hand to stop him from talking. “No, it most definitely did no. You got yourself captured on purpose, didn’t you? This whole thing,” she said waving between the three of them. “This whole thing was a ruse. You did all this so you and Diego could get your hands on those chemical weapons or whatever you needed, and me and Klaus were just a stupid, moronic distraction!” The longer she went on, the louder her voice got. “You used me,” she finished, unable to hide the hurt in her words. “You used me, and all this mess was just a stupid trick all along.”

“That’s shitty man,” Klaus added quietly after Vanya had nothing else left to say.

The quite that fell over them didn’t last for very long.

Five scoffed at them both. “You’re both idiotic, and I can’t believe such a far-fetched conclusion could ever worm it’s way into your silly little head Vanya.”

Vanya frowned. “Excuse me?”

Turning away from them while rubbing vicious circles into his forehead, Five tensed his shoulders. His usual rigid form looked unnatural after having seen him act so casual and relaxed for most of the day. A tiny pang of guilt slid through Vanya’s heart, but she quickly shoved it away.

“I didn’t get myself captured on purpose,” Five said slowly. “That was a by-product of Ms. Richland’s annoying habit of fuzzing over kids she has no right to worry about. It’s true that I snuck into this school under the guise of being a kid so I could steal those chemicals.”

“You already look like kid though,” Klaus pointed out unhelpfully.

“Under the guise of a student then,” Five snapped. “But I never deceived you Vanya,” he continued. “You being here was a simple miscalculation on my part. I needed help, so I called you.”

“Oh.”

Vanya was left momentarily speechless. Her entire being warming up at the fact that she was the first person her brother thought to call when he needed someone to rely on. “That’s different.”

Five frowned up at her in worry. “I’m sorry Vanya, truly.”

She blinked quickly, before coughing lightly into her hand. “No,” she said. “It’s ok. I just rushed to a hasty conclusion that’s all. You should have still told us the truth from the beginning,” she added on. “But I understand you might have been caught up with all the craziness going on too.”

He nodded at her, giving her a ghost of a smile.

“So,” Klaus interrupted, draping and arm around Vanya, and squeezing her against his side. “Now that that is over and dealt with, where to next dear?”

Vanya grinned. “We are superheroes,” she mumbled into her brother’s chest. “Saving people is what we do, if I’m getting this right?”

“Yup,” Klaus said. “Look at the student growing into her own superhero legacy. I’m so proud!”

Vanya chuckled lightly, before pointing a finger in the air, like she remembered Klaus doing time and time again when they were kids. “Let’s liberate those chemicals,” she declared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope Vanya's frustration with the whole situation makes sense. Her anger has kinda been building throughout the story so hopefully her reaction isn't too out of left field.


	8. We Don't Always Notice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus and Vanya have a heart to heart

“So,” Vanya said, putting her arm down. “Where exactly is this lab?”

“From the blueprints I studied,” Five began.

Vanya snorted. ‘ _Blueprints,_ ’ she thought.

Five ignored her reaction and carried on. “It should be two hallways to the left, one staircase down, and two more hallways to the right.” Frowning, he scrutinized the hall they were standing in now. “Should be simple enough,” he muttered.

“Of course,” Klaus said. “Simple. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Klaus,” Vanya snapped, leaning away from her brother, and slapping him hard on the shoulder. “Why the hell would you say that?”

“Ow,” her brother muttered. “Could you stop hitting me already?”

Vanya let her head fall back at that. Breathing through her nose a couple of times, she wished her headache away desperately, before opening her mouth to apologize to him. “Sorry Klaus,” she said. “I’m just a little bit out of it today.”

Her brother only bumped lightly into her side in forgiveness, drawing the tiniest hints of a smile out of her.

Klaus smiled back.

 “Can we go now,” Five interrupted their moment, voice coated with annoyance and frustration.

Just for a second he sounded so much like a child, Vanya couldn’t help but grin at him.

“Sure,” she said, “Lead the way big man.”

 And so, they were off.

Running down the hall again, Vanya wondered how her day had gotten so ugly. She was just supposed to pick her brother up, not play the piano, not run from the principle, not steal from a lab, and certainly not try to save potential lives. ' _My life is crazy and I don’t know what to do,'_ she though, as they rounded the second corner, and started taking the stairs two at a time.

 _'Come on, come on,'_ Vanya mumbled to herself, breath coming out in tiny gasps of exhaustion. ' _We’re almost there.'_

And then the alarms cut of abruptly, and Vanya cursed to the moon and back, loudly.

“Now now Vanya,” Klaus huffed, jumping the last few steps down. “There is a kid in earshot, mind your language.”

“Fuck off Klaus,” Five shouted.

Sprinting again down the next hall, Vanya tried her hardest to keep up with her siblings. Five who was surprisingly fast for a tiny midget, and Klaus who despite polluting himself almost everyday had both stride and shear energy on her.

Finally, they arrived in front of the double doors, and without hesitation, Five sprang through them and started rooting through the shelves.

“Uh,” Klaus called out, hand raised and eyes following Five’s quick motions around. “You should be careful with those,” he said.

Five glared. “I know that doofus. I’m not an idiot.”

“Sure,” Klaus nodded along slowly. “Let’s agree on that.”

Vanya who was trying her hardest to catch her breath behind the double door, raised one of her hands from her knees, and rapped her knuckles against window. “Hurry up in there,” she called.

At this point she didn’t even care if they heard her or not.

Sliding down until her butt hit the ground, Vanya sighed in relief, as she put her head on her raised legs. _‘Please be over soon,’_ she thought.

“Get out!”

Snapping her head up, her silent moment was interrupted by Five kicking Klaus out of the lab.

“And stay there!” he barked, slamming the double doors shut.

Stumbling slightly, Klaus righted himself with the tiniest of indignant huffs. “Why does he have to be so mean?”

Vanya shrugged. “Just let him be for now Klaus.”

“Don’t come crying to me when he spills something dangerous and turns himself into a mutant dog,” Klaus said, pointing a disgusted finger back at the door.

“You mean a mutant human? Vanya asked.

“You heard me! I said what I said!”

Crossing him arms, he wandered around for a while, before making his way slowly back to where Vanya was sitting.

Throwing himself gracelessly next to her, Klaus leaned his head on her shoulder with a heavy sigh that made his whole-body shudder.

“Do you think he cares about us at all?” he asked softly, mood suddenly different from his usual playful nature.

It was like the humor he had been displaying all day just had enough and chose to hide away in the corners of his mind again, leaving only a broken man behind.

Vanya searched for his hand on the floor then, and when she found it, she squeezed it tight. “Sure, he does,” she whispered, putting her own head atop of his. “He just has a hard time showing it, is all.” 

“I don’t think he cares much for me Vanya,” Klaus said softly.

“I know he does,” was her answer. Squeezing his too thin hand with her own once again, Vanya shut her eyes against the blinding light and frowned. “He’s been alone for so long, I don’t think he knows how to deal with people anymore. To be honest, I don’t think any of us do really.”

Klaus let out a breathy laugh at that.

Vanya smiled. “We’re in this together,” she muttered, knowing Klaus needed to hear her say that. He had been confiding in her a lot more than ever before, ever since they chose to try this whole family thing, and Vanya refused to let him down now. “I am in it with you,” she continued. “Even if no one else is, me and Ben, we’re here. And we’ll always be here.”

Klaus stayed silent for a while. Not saying anything but playing with her fingers like he used to do when they were kids so long ago. Finally, he nodded awkwardly against her neck and chuckled softly. “I wish we had been closer,” he said.

“Yeah,” Vanya replied. “I wish we had too.”

Suddenly the door next to them burst open, and Five stepped out of the smoke coughing.

Vanya stumbled to her feet, momentarily forgetting Klaus had been leaning against her, making her poor brother hit the floor with a thud. She didn’t pay much mind to it.

“What happened?” she asked Five in concern. Seeing his blacked-out face, singed hair, and soot covered school uniform. “Are you ok? Do you need help?”

“I got it wrong,” Five gritted out. “Call Diego for me.”

 And with that he turned back around and marched into the lab again.

“And tell him what,” Vanya called after him in frustration.

“Just tell him he needs to figure out these chemicals or you lot are going to jail for stealing! Oh, and stay out there! I need lookouts!”

“Why me?” Vanya sighed, before picking up her phone, and dialing a familiar number.

“Don’t mind me,” Klaus grumbled from the floor. “I’m just gonna lay here all sad and forgotten.”

“Let it go Klaus,” Vanya huffed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if Vanya suddenly forgetting about Klaus at the end was as noticeable as I wanted it to be, but I really hope it is. Klaus is always seen as that funny, reckless and slightly frustrating guy, and I think his siblings often forget about his feelings without even meaning to, because he's reactions are always so comedic and careless, they don't really think they are hurting him as much as he's actually hurt by it. 
> 
> And Vanya seriously focusing on Five rather than Klaus the minute her brother looks to be in danger or not safe is also intentionally done. Vanya is trying, but she does have her favorites whether she wants to admit it or not, and Five (in her subconsciousness) just ranks higher than any of her other siblings. So hope that make sense.
> 
> I also hope the rest of the chapter makes much sense as well, and doesn't come off as choppy. Well, enjoy guys!


	9. Someone Save Us From Ourselves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things just keep getting worse

Diego picked up by the third ring. “Vanya?” he asked. His voice sounded gruff and tired, edges of exhaustion coloring his words. “Where are you?” 

Vanya snorted, lips twisting down at the corners. “Helping Five commit a crime, you?” 

“Excuse me?” Diego didn’t often take well to accusations even when he clearly didn’t know what he was being accused off. “What crime?” 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Vanya said. “The one you sent him out on with your blessing and vigilantly propaganda.” 

“Wait, his still at the school? I thought he would be home by now. And what are you doing there with him? Vanya what’s going on?” 

“What’s going on is that your brilliant plan failed and now me and Klaus are caught up in this mess  _you_  made.” 

“What, Klaus is there?” Her brother sounded both baffled and confused now. 

Vanya would have felt sorry for him any other day of the week, but she had reached a point today, where there was no more sympathy to be had in her heart, so honestly Vanya could care less about his confusion, in fact, it just annoyed her even further. 

“Yes,” she snapped. “Klaus is here, and Five needs you to tell him the right chemicals before we all get caught stealing and the idiot gets us sent to jail while he gets to break out of juvie.” 

Silence was all that greeted her from the other side for a long time, and just as Vanya was about to snap at the vigilante again, he finally let his voice carry over the phone and into her ear. 

“Sorry Vanya,” he muttered. _‘Well,_ ’ the woman thought. ‘ _Haven’t heard that one today'_  

Taking a deep breath, she tried to center herself. She couldn't lose control now. Deep under the surface of her skin she could feel her emotions wavering and dancing with unease at her growing temper. _‘Calm down Vanya,'_ she told herself _.‘Just breath, you have it under control. You can do this.’_  

“Forget about it Diego,” she said, biting her lip hard to shock her feelings back under control. “Just tell us what to do.” 

And so, began the whisper yelling from one person to the other, as she and Klaus tried to both keep watch while also running back and forth in order to pass the proper instructions to their working midget of a brother.  

“This can’t possibly go wrong,” Klaus huffed, as he slid out of the lab, with both hands in his pocket and the most stupidest of grins painting his face.  

Vanya smirked; phone still pressed against her ear. “Don’t count your eggs yet,” she said. And as if on cue the one person Vanya least wanted to see today rounded the corner and came face to face with both Vanya and Klaus, who looked nothing less than suspicious where they stood. 

“Ms. Hargrain? Mr. Nicolas?”  

Ms Richland looked shocked. 

“What are you two doing here?” 

Vanya stared dumbly at the beautiful woman in front of her. “Uh,” was all that left her lips. 

The teacher narrowed her eyes. “Where were you when the fire alarm went off?” 

“Looking for my brother,” Vanya answered truthfully. 

“I didn’t see you guys outside,” Ms. Richland said, voice even, but her body language screaming anything but. 

“We didn’t make it out sadly,” Vanya said, trying to match the other woman’s tone. “We got lost.” 

“Vanya,” came a voice over the phone, catching Vanya by surprise. She had forgotten Diego was still on the other side. “Sis, what’s going on?”  

“Nothing,” she muttered, hoping for that sliver of a chance that Ms. Richland hadn’t noticed her phone. 

She had. 

Zeroing in on the hand Vanya had pressed up against the side of her face, the tall lady crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side. “Who is that on the phone?” she asked. 

“Daniel,” Vanya rushed out, stumbling over the made-up name. 

“Say what?” Diego asked with bafflement. “Why did you change my name? V, tell me you didn’t try to improv again? Remember last time you did? Disaster.” 

Vanya tried not to pay attention to his babbling, instead focusing all her concentration on salvaging the situation in front of her. 

“And who is Daniel?” Ms. Richland asked. 

“My brother,” Vanya blurted out, which would have been all well and good. Tying things back into their neat little buddle's of lies, if in that very moment her other less brilliant sibling also decided to claim Daniel as his sibling. 

The minute the word ‘my brother’ left both of their lips at the same time, Vanya knew they were screwed. Royally, majorly and without compere.  _Kill me now,’_ she thought. 

Ms. Richland’s brows where reaching for the high heavens now. 

“Come again,” she said. “He is both your brother?” 

“Well no,” Klaus stuttered, eyes shifting to Vanya before falling back on the crazy lady that had made it her business to take away their pint-sized assassin. “I mean yes he’s my brother, but no he isn’t Vanya’s.” 

“You see,” the séance said, throwing an arm around Vanya and drawing her close. “My sweetheart over here calls him brother too, cuz we’re planning on getting married and all that, and you know the whole what’s yours is mine thing et cetera et cetera.” 

Ms. Richland looked dumbfounded. 

Vanya grinned widely at her, teeth shining, patting her supposed boyfriend firmly on the chest as she said. “We are close like that,” through closed teeth.

“The hell is going on over there?” Diego’s tiny voice barked from the phone, voice much softer now since the device was currently pressed between Vanya’s shoulder and ear. 

“Well then,” Ms. Richland said slowly. “Where’s your real brother? Where is young Fievel?” 

Vanya blinked. “Well ma'am,” she said slowly. “That’s a good question.” 

“Did you lose your brother again Ms. Hargrain?” the woman standing in front of them had a voice of steel. 

Vanya opened her mouth to deny that preposterous accusation, when Five chose that very minute to slam open the double doors with his tiny boots and walk out of the lab with a bunch of illegal chemicals.  

“Can’t you two ever keep your mouths shut,” he hissed, face hidden behind the cardboard box he was carrying. “Now let’s get out of here before anyone sees us. We have some experiments to take care off before I go to bed. God knows this day has been hell on my back.” 

Vanya looked from Five to the gobsmacked teacher standing across from them and then back to Five again, before letting her eyes slowly rest on a spot right over Ms. Richland’s shoulder.  

“I can explain.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a lot of projects to get done. Really sorry for the long wait :(


	10. Klaus Has An Idea

"How," Ms. Richland snapped. “Can you possibly explain that!” 

It looked like the teacher had finally reached her boiling point. ' _Funny,’_  Vanya thought. _‘I guess she has less_ _patience then me.’_  

“All you people have done is disrespect the rules, sneak behind my back, and now,” she said, gesturing at Five. “You’re having your baby brother commit criminal acts for you.” 

“Hold on,” Vanya said, raising a hand, and stepping away from Klaus. “This is not what it looks like.” 

“Oh really?” 

“Yes, really,” Vanya said, side stepping the heavy sarcasm.  

“First,” Vanya said, turning to face Five who was staring up at her with a mixed look of shock and annoyance that he was the one who got them caught. “Place those substances back sweetie. You promised you were only going to look at them, and I promise I’ll buy you a brand-new set when we get home.” 

“Secondly,” she continued, facing Ms. Richland once more. “We have done nothing but cooperate with all of you.” Placing both of her hands on her hips, Vanya glared at the teacher with her best Allison impression. “Yes, Fievel was supposed to be in class today, but I came over immediately after he called, and me and my boyfriend have done everything we can to both honor our deal and get my brother home. It isn’t any of our faults that you don’t think I am fit enough to raise my own younger brother.” 

“Can you blame me,” Ms. Richland said. “I mean look at your brother, he is stealing school property.” 

Vanya rolled her eyes. “He was just curious. And I know shouldn’t have taken anything, but ever since our father passed away, I have given him everything he could ever want without question, and I guess he got used to that kind of lifestyle.” 

Ms. Richland’s eyes softened slightly. 

 _‘Damn,’_ Vanya thought. ' _By the end of all this, I’ll be a better liar than even Allison.’_  

“Still," the woman in front of them said, arms crossed. "Those are some dangerous chemicals in young Fievel’s possession, and the fact that he was so sure that you will let him take them, is quite troubling.” 

“Hold on,” Klaus interrupted, and Vanya could have just strangled him then. Things were going so well. Stupid Klaus. “How do you know any of these chemicals are dangerous? For all you know, all they are good for is painting our bodies different colors or something. Harmless” 

 _‘Oh,’_  Vanya thought. ' _That’s actually a really good question.’_  

“I am the chemistry teacher,” Ms. Richland said. 

 _‘Nop, it was a terrible question.’_  

“Well look at you,” Klaus scoffed. “Are you everything in this school or what? We have seen you almost everywhere.” 

Ms. Richland glared at him. “I am the chemistry teacher and the vice principle. Is that enough for you Mr. Nicolas?” 

Klaus blinked. “Eh, no. But I guess it will have to do for now.” 

Ms. Richland didn’t dignify that with an answer. Instead she fixed her gaze on the short boy standing in front of the closed lab door and asked him firmly to put those dangerous substances back where he found them. “This is very irresponsible of you Mr. Hargrain,” she said. “You could have got yourself seriously hurt by any of these things you are holding.” 

Five snared at her from over the lowered cardboard box. “Don’t patronize me woman,” he snapped.  

The teacher looked scandalized, and honestly Vanya wanted to mirror her.  _‘Why the hell would Five chose now as the perfect moment to throw everything to the wind? I guess he has had enough of this whole charade business,’_ Vanya thought.  _‘Well too bad, they had come too far to kick the pretense away now.”_  

“We are so sorry Ms. Richland,” Vanya hurried to say. “It’s just that my brother is so smart, he doesn’t really like it when people underestimate his intelligence.” 

“It is hard to believe,” the vice principle said, voice slow and clear, like she was tasting every word leaving her tongue. “That a child so young knows what he is doing with those high-level chemicals Ms. Hargain.” 

Vanya paused. ‘ _How to get out of this.’_  

Could she rely on her siblings? 

Diego had been quiet all this time, his breathing being the only thing alerting Vanya that he was still there on the phone. Five looked a second away from throwing the objects he was holding at the lady in front of them, and Klaus, well Klaus had the widest of smiles on his face, and his eyes were gleaming in mischief.  

 _‘Oh no,’_ she thought. 

“Why don’t you test him,” Klaus blurted out, before Vanya could jab him with her elbow 

“What,” both Ms. Richland and Vanya said at the same time, while Five’s face morphed into more of a thoughtful look at the suggestion. 

“I mean clearly you don’t believe the little kiddo here is capable of building a rocket ship or whatever, so why don’t you sit him down to take a placement exam or something, and that way you’ll know that my beloved here, is educating her brother properly, while also understanding why our little genius was so taken by these chemicals?” 

By the end of his speech, Klaus was jumping excitedly in his place, and to be honest, Vanya kinda wanted to do that too. What a brilliant idea that was. Why hadn’t she thought of it herself? _‘Well it doesn’t matter now,’_ she smiled _. ‘Klaus just saved us all.’_  

Ms. Richland pursed her lips, opened her mouth, waited a second, before closing it again. She was clearly thinking hard about the idea. “Very well,” she finally said. “I think that could work for all parties involved.” 

Vanya could hug her brother senseless for this rescue. Instead she settled for bumping his shoulder and smiling softly at him. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

Klaus just winked at her. 

“Nice one Klaus,” Diego called over the phone, and the violinist almost jumped in surprise. 

“Let’s go back to the office and talk to the principle about this,” Ms. Richland said. 

Vanya glanced over at Five, raising a questioning eyebrow. 

Her brother scoffed but gave her a reluctant nod.  

They were going to do this then.  

But just as Five came back out of the lab after putting everything back in its previous position, or so Ms. Richland thought. He had actually just hid them away to be fetched later, a stocky man ran around the corner, almost crashing into Ms. Richland herself.  

“Oh Annie,” he huffed. “Thank God you’re here.” 

“What is it Orland?” Ms. Richland asked, holding the poor, out of breath man by the shoulders.  

“There has been a huge fight in the cafeteria, and we need your help in getting these kids under control.” 

“Would you look at that,” Klaus said. “She is the school’s superhero too.” 


	11. Let's go

Ms. Richland frowned at Klaus’s comment, but otherwise ignored him, as she focused her attention back on the pudgy man and asked him how the situation arose in the first place.  

“I don’t know,” he gasped, still trying to collect himself. “We came back in after the false alarm, gathered the younger kids in the cafeteria and everything, and suddenly before I knew it, a scuffle broke out and there was just no stopping it.” 

Ms. Richland or apparently Annie bit her lip in thought. “Who was overseeing the kids,” she finally asked. 

“I was.” 

“What?” Ms. Richland’s eyes had widened a fair bit at the confession, her lips thinning. “How could you just leave all those kids unsupervised Orland!” 

“I,” he stuttered, looking around, probably for support Vanya thought. She shrugged at him when their eyes met.  

‘ _You’re on your own pal_ ,’ she mused, lips curling at the corner. It was nice to see someone else fall under the wrath of the beautiful chemistry teacher for once. 

Orland winced at the clear rejection oozing from the sibling trio, before he slowly turned back around to face the furious lady towering over him. “I was so overwhelmed Annie,” he whimpered. “Those kids, those kids are possessed by the devil himself I tell you. So hateful and cruel!” 

The redhead just shook her head in exasperation. “Orland,” she said, blue eyes dancing with a mix of irritation and amusement. “You can’t let these kids push you around. How many times have I told you? They’re just children.” 

“Right right,” he muttered, but Vanya didn’t find him very convincing, and neither did Ms. Richland it seemed, for she sighed again, before giving the shorter man another firm pat on the shoulder. 

“Let’s go fix this,” she said.  

Orland answer was a watering smile. 

“What a wimp,” rang Diego’s voice in Vanya’s ear. This time she did jump, letting out a startled yelp.  

Ms. Richland head snapped in their direction, and Vanya gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry,” she mouthed.  

The teacher sighed again. “I have to go take care of this,” she said, tilting her head in the direction of the corridor Orland had just stumbled out of about a minute ago, in his haste to get to her. 

“Great,” Klaus chirped up next to Vanya. “We’ll just wait in the principal's office until you get back then.” 

Vanya nodded, sent the teacher a wide smile, and quickly started to push her siblings in the direction opposite to where the two other adults were heading.  

“Now hold on a minute,” Ms. Richland snapped, voice sharp and authoritative as it rang out behind them. 

The small family of three and a half, including Diego that is, came to a stop. “Yes,” Vanya said brightly, choosing not to turn around.  

“You honestly think I can trust you to make your way back to the office after everything you’ve done today?” 

Vanya spun on her heels to face the woman standing behind them after taking a deep, steadying breath. “Don’t worry,” she said, waving her hand carelessly. “We know where it is. I’m sure me and my lovely boyfriend can take my brother there no problem. So, we’ll just be on our way now.” 

Their adversary throughout this exhausting day just lifted an unimpressed eyebrow in answer. “Oh, I know you can find the office easily,” she said. “I just don’t trust that you will. So, come along Hargrains' and boyfriend. We are breaking up a middle school fight.  

A snort came from the phone close to her ear. “She got you guys all figured out sis.” While at the same time Klaus muttered something about superheroes and motivating speeches next to her.

Vanya brought her phone down and clicked end. Stupid Diego. Then she lifted her head and sent the redheaded woman another blinding smile. “Of course,” she said. “We would love to.” 

Ms. Richland just smirked at her, eyes twinkling in the light, before she shook her head and started walking away.  

The violinist blinked. ' _Huh?’_  

“I think she got you figured out,” Five said, amusement temporarily overriding his current mood of irritation. “Your fake acts are starting to wear thin.” 

“Oh, shut up,” Vanya muttered. “If it wasn’t for you, none of us would be here in the first place.”  

Five just shrugged in answer. “I admit things didn’t exactly go according to my plan.” 

“You think,” she hissed. 

“Guys,” Klaus’s voice interrupted their little spat. Looking up she found him almost right next to Ms. Richland and Orland. “Start walking or we’ll leave you behind!” 

“I wish,” Five mumbled under his breath, making Vanya snort. 

Sharing a quick, amused smile, they both shook their head, and started to quickly catch up to the others.  

 _‘This day isn’t going to end anytime soon,’_  Vanya mused. ' _And I have a bad feeling things are only getting worse from here on out.’_  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being missing for so long guys! :( I haven't been able to write anything much lately. Constant writing block and stress hasn't allowed me to really sit down and flesh out anything worth reading. I guess the stress of my university projects kinda got to me and I couldn't really shake them off easily. Still, thank you for always reading these ridiculous stories I write, and your comments have really encouraged and helped me in continuing writing. Thanks for all the support, and hopefully I can finally start updating this story regularly again :)


	12. Screams

Ms. Richland was fast when she wanted to be _‘probably why she keeps on popping up everywhere like some kind of vengeful ghost,'_ Vanya thought sourly. 

Picking up speed, the redheaded lady, darted around the corner, and practically flew down the stairs. It was all Vanya could do not to fall behind her current ragtag group of people. What had her life come to? And how the hell was tiny legged Five so fast?  

A question for another day. 

“Are we there yet,” Klaus called out; jogging behind the teacher; a skip in his steps as if he had no care left in the world. Vanya could have throttled him. How was this fair? Klaus’s veins were practically filled with more drugs than blood, and it was her that was struggling?  

Ms. Richland didn’t dignify him with an answer, and Klaus scoffed scornfully; he made sure said scoff was loud, annoying and most importantly, heard. 

The violist behind most of them, shook her head. She just couldn’t believe that this had in a span of couple of hours become her norm. They were running towards a cafeteria. They were trying to stop a middle school food fight. They were trying to stop a bunch of  _kids_ , from fighting each other! All she’d come here to do today was to pick up her stupid old man of a brother, so what the hell! 

“Life is cruel,” Vanya muttered to herself; head down and mind feeling too foggy to be due to anything else but utter pain and exhaustion. “It hates you Vanya, do not trust it. Nop, never trust life or happiness ever again.” 

“Could you please slow down,” Orland stuttered out suddenly, stomach bouncing up and down as he desperately tried to keep up with the rest of them. In fairness, he was keeping up with her; just a couple of steps behind her in fact.  

How embarrassing, still- 

_‘Amen brother,’_ Vanya thought; cheeks flush and heart hammering against her chest. _‘I didn’t come to this God forsaken school for cardio exercise ok.’_  

Finally the redhead leading their pack came to a halt; huffing and puffing in her high heels, but hair miraculously managing to remain fabulous. 

Klaus whistled impressed.  

Vanya might have agreed, if she wasn’t trying to keep her lugs from falling out of her mouth. “We’re here,” Ms. Richland breathed; hand against her chest and cheeks painted scarlet pink. The Hargreeves siblings didn’t even have to look to tell that behind these double doors, was the cafeteria. The sheer level of noise blasting through the walls, said that loud and clear. 

Vanya gulped. “Do we have to go on with you?” she asked, sharing a quick but worried gaze with her shorter brother. She hated confrontations, she hated chaos and she hated food. All of those things, could be found behind those doors.  

She wasn’t feeling particularly ready to stop a food fight today, and from the looks of it, neither was Five. Klaus was still debatable though. Ms. Richland sighed; running perfectly manicured fingers through her hair. “I suppose you can all wait out here with Mr. Orland,” she said; words clearly reluctant, but also resigned. “Just don’t create more of a mess for me ok?” With those last words, she was looking directly at Vanya. The violinist blinked. 

Huh? 

What did she do? 

Lifting up a finger, she pointed at herself with a questioning tilt of her head. Ms. Richland gave a sharp nod. “Keep your family from doing anything, stupid,” she said, and before Vanya could dredge up her well practiced offended look, the taller woman had taken a breath, looked up at the sky in prayer and wrenched open the door. And- 

The brunet found herself clamming both hands over her ears and wincing. The sheer volume, the screams... What the hell? How loud could a couple of dozens of kids get? 

Suddenly, the air shifted, and Vanya – instinctively found herself ducking down and out of the way, and thank God for that, because; a tray filled with food flew passed her head by an inch. 

“What the hell,” she shrieked; eyes wide in shock. A tomato covered Klaus met her gaze and - “Duck!” Five screamed from behind them. Vanya didn’t even think, she dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes.  

“Kids are crazy,” Klaus said; voice filled with strange level of glee. “This is amazing!” 

“I can’t hear you,” Vanya screamed back. “Speak louder!” 

“I said,” Klaus had turned around to look at her now. “Kids.are.crazy!” 

“Ya think!” 

This wasn’t getting them anywhere, and Vanya just wanted to go home. “Ms. Richland,” she called out. “Can you fix this?” The other woman who was hiding behind the open door, frantically shook her head; looking both stunned and exasperated all with a single downturn of her lips. 

“How did you let things get this out of control,” she snapped at Orland. The pudgy man just whimpered. Shaking her head, Ms. Richland hesitantly peaked around the corner again. “Stop,” she shouted. “Kids, stop throwing food around at once. Detention! Detention for all of you! Do you hear me! Stop!” 

Of course that didn’t work. Vanya barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. 

“This is ridiculous,” Five muttered next to her. Face pressed into his hands, and shoulders tense with clear frustration. “Cover me, I’ll take care of this.” 

“What? No!” Vanya hissed; panic seizing her heart when she put two and two together. “Don’t you dare Five. Five!” 

It didn’t matter, because with a fizzle of warping energy, her stupid brother, zapped out of existence. 

Mr. Orland screamed and passed out. 

Vanya covered her eyes and whimpered.  

“What was that?” Ms. Richland said, turning around to face them again, from her position by the door. “I heard a scream.” Vanya just slammed her head against the floor and muttered. “It was my soul dying.” 

“Ms. Hargrains! Ms. Hargains! What’s going on over there? Where is your brother?” 

Said fake Ms. Hargrains wanted to scream that the idiot was dead to her, that she was done, that she was gonna kill Diego and that she was gonna kill someone else just on principal, but she was so freaking tired, she just sprawled herself fully on the dirty ground and closed her eyes; one finger lifting up from the ground and pointing at the sky loosely. “He’s with the angels Ma’am.” 

“What?” 

Klaus cackled and Orland was still passed out. Vanya briefly wondered if they could explain away what he saw as a bouts of delusion brought on by the stress of dealing with terrible, terrible kids.  

Could this get any worse? - Water; Vanya cupped her hands together in wonder, and watched them fill up with the clear liquid that was currently drenching all of them. Someone had turned on the sprinklers.  

Well, fuck. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Carefully look out from behind a wall* Hello?
> 
> It's been a really long time hasn't it. I guess I don't really have any excuses. The whole show got a bit too sufficating for me for a while and I found myself avoiding everything and anything to do with this show as best as I could. I just couldn't handle tua anymore for some reason, so I just dropped the fic and kinda took a break. I wanted to come back to it eventually, so that's why I didn't just write it off. Still, it wasn't fun to write anymore, so I didn't want to put out lackluster chapters if I wasn't going to put my heart into it.
> 
> I'm back now though. For better or for worse. Don't know if anyone is reading this mess anymore, but for the sake of all those who took the time to read and comment, and for those that wanted to see a conclusion to the sage of the crazy Hargrains and boyfriend, I shall do my very best to complete this fic. Thank you all for all the support and funny comments. I found myself reading through them all today, and it put a smile on my face and was the reason why I was able to start writing this again.
> 
> Well enough of the sappiness. Here you go! Let's finish this dumb fic together and on a high note! (still plenty of chapters left to go though!) Thanks for waiting!!!!


	13. Are You Ok? Am I?

“What the-” Ms. Richland lifted her hands to shield her hair. “Who turned on the sprinklers?” 

“I did.”  

Five walked out from behind the staircase and smirked smugly at all of them; hands in his pockets, and chin tilted high. Vanya glared.  

She was wet, food was splattered all around her;  _wet food now_ , and she was pretty sure the dirty ground underneath her body did her health no service, and just looking at her brother, sauntering towards them like he did them some grand favor just made her grit her teeth in fury.  

“You did?” It didn’t look like Richland had fully caught on to the situation; her confusion was pretty much symbolized by the running make up down her cheeks. Vanya winced in sympathy. Ms. Richland was pretty, but that look, well, it hid it pretty good. She briefly wondered if she looked as much of a mess as the teacher did. Shaking her head, she dispelled the idea and slowly pushed her way back onto her feet. 

Five had yet to answer the redheaded woman, as he instead just shrugged his shoulders, walked over to the gap between the double doors, and stuck his head in. “Would you look at that,” he said; self-satisfaction practically oozing out of his words. “No more food fight. Just confused bunch of kids. You’re welcome.” 

Blinking away the water caught in her eyelashes, Ms. Richland hurried to look over the younger boy’s shoulder, and she too seemed to have drawn some satisfaction from what she’d just witnessed, because she absentmindedly reached down, and patted Five on the shoulder. “Thank you Fievel,” she said, sounding both surprised and grateful. He only huffed in answer, before scuttling away from her. 

“Whatever. Can I take my placement test now?” 

“ _Fievel_ _,_ don’t take that tone with the nice lady,” Klaus piped up from where he’d turned on his back, mouth open and eyes closed. “This water is refreshing.” 

“Don’t drink that,” Vanya snapped; walking past him, but not before she lightly kicked him on the side. “You don’t know what kind of chemicals they’ve put into it.” 

Klaus just rolled his eyes, pulling himself also back on his feet. “You worry too much my dear.” 

Now it was Vanya’s turn to roll her eyes. “Stop that, but Fievel is right Ms. Richland. Now that he has so kindly,” here she glared at her brother, who only smirked back at her. “stopped the food fight. Can we please go back to the principal's office so my brother can take his exam?” 

“Just a moment,” the teacher replied; holding up a finger. "I just have to talk to those that started it.” Smiling apologetically at Vanya she continued. “Normally I would have let Orland handle it, but clearly he is out of commission.” here she trailed off in confusion. “So I suppose it’s up to me.” 

“Of course,” Vanya said; sending the teacher a tight-lipped smile, before shooting a quick glare in Five’s direction. “We understand.” 

_Dumb brothers and their even dumber ideas. She was so going to strangle him and urgh._  

“Take your time,” she finished. 

Ms. Richland nodded back at her in gratitude, before she steeled herself and walked into the cafeteria, head held high. The minute she was out of view, Vanya turned around on her miniature old man. “What the fuck is wrong with you,” she hissed. 

“Nothing is wrong with me,” Five hissed back; waving one arm in the knocked-out man’s direction. “Thanks to me we ended this needless chaos and  _you_ ,” Here he pointed an accusing finger in her face. “Were supposed to handle him!” 

“How?” Vanya was practically screaming; the school shook slightly. “How the hell was I supposed to handle anything! You gave me no warning! Just poof,” she snapped her fingers sarcastically. “And you were gone. I had no fucking time to deal with anything ok!” 

“Hey guys?” She didn’t know what Klaus wanted, but Vanya could care less about it right now. Her focus was solely on the one brother who’d given her headache all day.  

“Not now Klaus,” she snapped; not even taking her eyes away from the scowling Five. “I’m trying to tell this idiot here that there are consequences to once actions!” 

Five’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you think I know that?” 

“Oh gee,” Vanya said. “I don’t know. You seem to have forgotten all about it this morning.” 

“Fuck you.” 

Her eyes widened comically. “Excuse me?” What? What the hell was happening here? Since when did her brother just – What? Did Five just... Her Five? 

“Guys please?” There was something in Klaus’s voice now; something Vanya couldn’t really decipher. Still, she didn’t have time for whatever he wanted to say, not when Five was- 

“Did you just curse at me?” 

“Grow up Vanya,” the time traveler snared. “It’s not like you haven’t been cursing all day, and I helped! I fixed this ok! And just because it’s not your ideal pretty princess way of handling it, doesn’t mean it’s wrong!” 

“Are you kidding me?” Vanya couldn’t believe her own ears; something shook dangerously again. “You made a man pass out!” How hard was it to understand that? 

“He was already on his way there,” Five said, sounding wholly unimpressed.  

Unbelievable. 

“I could strangle you,” she hissed. Her brother scoffed. “Try me.” 

“GUYS!” 

Vanya’s head snapped in the direction of Klaus. Her brother looked frantic. “Stop,” he whispered; fingers flittering around nervously and pupils dilated. “Just stop ok. Please?” 

“Klaus, I-” She started; stomach dropping at the sight of him. He looked pale, scared even. “I didn’t-” 

Her brother cut her off with a quick shake of his head. “It doesn’t matter,” he said; lips twitching into a ghost of a smile. “Just calm down yeah. You’re about to bring the building down. You too shorty. I know you must be really frustrated about the lives you and Diego wanna save, but blowing up at Vanya isn’t gonna help k?” 

Oh 

Of course 

Five and Klaus, they... They most have also been frustrated about this – angry, disappointed, scared, worried. She shouldn’t have – Her shoulders deflated. “I’m sorry Klaus,” she muttered, face falling. “I didn’t mean to lose it.” 

“I’m sorry too.” It looked like it pained Five to say those words, but he’d managed; hands stuffed in his pockets, and face tilted downward. 

“It’s ok,” Klaus said; voice back to being easygoing and light. As if nothing could touch him. Vanya envied him for that. How strong he could be, when the situation was tough. Her brother was brave like that. 

Taking a deep breath, she tried to settle her nerves. The slightly shaky fingers that came to curl around her own helped a bit. She smiled softly at Klaus in thanks. He just nodded back; eyes unreadable.  

“You ok?” he asked.  

She nodded “Yeah.”  

It didn’t even occur to her, to ask him the same question. She smiled instead, he smiled back. 

Ms. Richland walked back out then; behind her a handful of students, momentarily interrupting their calming dispute. 

From the corner of her eye, Vanya could see Five visible relaxing his posture again. 

_‘Good,’_ she thought. _‘Good. We can talk about everything later. For_ _now,_ _we just need to get through this.’_  

Squeezing Klaus’s hand for reassurance, she smiled up at the teacher. “So,” she said; words coming out soft and calm. “Are we ready to go?”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter actually made me sad while I wrote it. I know this is supposed to be a funny story, but I think it was about time some people clashed (the way things were going) and Vanya almost losing it on Five made sense to me. He's reckless when he's corned or desperate, and I think this Five has just about had it with this school, so something like scaring the teacher (which Vanya and Klaus would see as a big nono) would be "whatever" for him. And all this frustration has been building up in all of them (especially Vanya) so of course she finally snapped at him. Still, she reigned it back in, and nothing was really delt with which is bad and will be addressed eventually. You could say this was just the "beginning".
> 
> Now as for Klaus. Poor baby :( He deserves so much better from his siblings, but they don't just get him. He's so loud that it almost drowns out his silent cries for help. And although I do believe they all love each other, I don't think they get each other at all. I'm actually pretty sure Klaus is the one who gets all of them the most. So Vanya thinking that Klaus was fine and not being able to read his expression was very much a hint towards how badly she misunderstands him. 
> 
> Hopefully that all came across well, and I promise this won't be the last talk these idiots siblings have. Next chapter: A lot more lighthearted!


End file.
